Ron Riggs, founder of Dayton Vietnam veterans memorial park, dies at 74

Ron Riggs, who helped found the Dayton Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park, died March 19 at the age of 74, his sister said.

In working to build the park in the mid-1980s, Riggs, of Kettering, was aided by former Dayton Mayor Paul Leonard and Lee Falke, former Montgomery County prosecutor, said Riggs’ sister, Jeanie Moore.

The park features a black granite “Ring of Remembrance” that lists the names of 401 Miami Valley men who lost their lives during service in Vietnam. The four-acre park is found along Veterans Parkway, just west of South Patterson Boulevard and north of the Stewart Street bridge.

The park was dedicated in May 1986.

Riggs returned from service in the Vietnam War with four Purple Heart medals, Moore said.

Services at Dayton National Cemetery are pending, Moore said.

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